Transferwise do cheap transfers but more important can provide US, UK and Aus bank accounts

[PNGMK]

Yeah I've wondered about the FATCA issues.

[MikeJones]

While I haven’t done such a transfer, TW will at least quote an attempted transfer up until you exceed RM975k... then it says this is the most a recipient can receive. Maybe if taken further there will be a hiccup, or maybe it depends if you are making the transfer to yourself or a third party?

I don’t use the borderless account feature (I’m guessing that would create some FATCA/CRS reporting hassle). I just make transfers to my US account from my SG account, funded via FAST... well in excess of $30k this year, so I’d have to assume that limit doesn’t apply to transfers in and of themselves.

Looking at their details for Malaysia it says if the destination account is a non-resident local bank account the 10k per day limit applies, I'm guessing TW have no visibility of what sort of account is at the other end so it will be at the recipients risk if you transfer more than 10k in a go.

I've tried out the borderless account mainly for the debit card when travelling but the withdrawal limits on that are so low I'm not sure it's worth it, I've not done any transferring of large amounts through it but yeah that annual limit only applies to transfers out of the borderless account, sending from your own bank accounts has just the per currency limits.

Mike

[PNGMK]

Well Transferwise (now called wise.com after their IPO) are pushing up fees (some transaction fees have dropped - most noticeably receiving USD into a USD borderless account and USD to GBP).

It's not too difficult to switch for transfers but for border-less accounts (where I receive invoice payments) I'm loathe to change. To give you some examples of recent rises - I now pay an extra US$5.00 approx to transfer US$10,000 from my borderless account to my Singapore account (total cost Fortunately the rate is still the mid rate and it's still far cheaper than accepting a USD payment into my Singapore multicurrency account. A typical transfer of US10,000 from my wise account is now US$52.04

This shows new fees....

https://wise.com/price-change/send-mone ... ly-reprice

Continuing on wise - one useful thing is you can use wise to receive pension payments in countries you may no longer side in. A British friend who resides in Australia receives his UK pension into a WISE GBP account that he has registered with his British DL so Wise see it as a UK resident account. I am not sure of the legality but apparently it was far easier than trying to get the money sent to Australia. For those of you leaving Singapore and needing to receive SGD CPF payments this maybe an option.

Edit: I should add that I hit their Singapore resident limit of $30k p.a. for transfers to others accounts. It was meant to be a rolling window of 12 months but the way TF enforce it is as a calendar year (it reset on Jan 1 for me). You can still use TF to transfer but you can't do it from a TF account (you have to paynow into TF to send it out). I really wish MAS would pull their head out of their ass. Actually I'm meant to meet Ravi Menon next month... mmmm

[nakatago]

Ditto; been using Wise (they're Wise now) to do international money transfers.

PayPal has always bad exchange rates.

[malcontent]

Same, I use Wise, it’s hard to beat.

I’ve tried Currency Fair once (for the sign up bonus) and it’s not quite as good.

I also check DBS from time to time. DBS has free transfers but takes around 0.6% in the exchange rate vs. 0.5% upfront fee and no loss in the exchange rate for Wise, this is for USD transfers.

[PNGMK]

The problem is once you use a system like wise it can be hard to back out of their ecosystem.

[Wd40]

I use instarem, I also compare with Wise. Both are good. Wise has a longer FX lock-in period of 96hrs. Instarem is 36hrs. Instarem gives you referal bonus of $30. I have been using their amaze card which is brilliant to convert offline transactions to online and get higher miles. Also for FX transactions amaze converts to local currency transaction and recharge back to the card at close to spot rate without fees. It is just Amazing.

[PNGMK]

Thanks WD40. Do you have a referral code?
Note though that Wise is still cheaper on USD to SGD (13708 from Instarem vs 137490 from wise).

That is my largest usual conversion and the $40 makes up for the small loses on the payouts that Instarem may be better at.

[malcontent]

Thanks WD40. Do you have a referral code?
Note though that Wise is still cheaper on USD to SGD (13708 from Instarem vs 137490 from wise).

That is my largest usual conversion and the $40 makes up for the small loses on the payouts that Instarem may be better at.

Have you thought about keeping it in USD and and investing it?

[PNGMK]

Thanks WD40. Do you have a referral code?
Note though that Wise is still cheaper on USD to SGD (13708 from Instarem vs 137490 from wise).

That is my largest usual conversion and the $40 makes up for the small loses on the payouts that Instarem may be better at.

Have you thought about keeping it in USD and and investing it?

I was (transferring USD from TF direct to Saxo USD) but haven't for awhile. I may restart that as soon as I have finished topping up CPF and SRS for 2022 (which should be by end of Sept). My financial goals have become quite simple since being laid off and going freelance:

Make enough money to;
1. Pay mortgage (~$50,000 p.a.)
2. Pay the full VC CPF contribution ($37,740)
3. Pay the full SRS contribution ($15,300).
4. Have enough in hand for my insurance saving scheme due in Jan ($~12,300)
Total "Compulsory" savings are ~$112,000 and I estimate I will earn about $220,000 (currently at $128,143 invoiced to date) this year max so I don't have a lot spare to invest at the beginning of the year as I try to pay down the compulsory savings first.

[malcontent]

Thanks WD40. Do you have a referral code?
Note though that Wise is still cheaper on USD to SGD (13708 from Instarem vs 137490 from wise).

That is my largest usual conversion and the $40 makes up for the small loses on the payouts that Instarem may be better at.

Have you thought about keeping it in USD and and investing it?

I was (transferring USD from TF direct to Saxo USD) but haven't for awhile. I may restart that as soon as I have finished topping up CPF and SRS for 2022 (which should be by end of Sept).

You look at things similar to the way I do, there are expenses that are down the drain and others that are direct savings or indirect (equity building). I break my mortgage payment into two: interest expense and return of principle, with 25% of my monthly income going toward paying down principle. Since I turned 50 this year I can sock US$7k into my Roth IRA, that is always my #1 priority because it is tax free for life, whether we live in SG or US. I will also top up S$8k into my spouse’s CPF (she gets the tax deduction). I have no choice on SRS.. my employer puts what I would have received in employer CPF contributions in there, and I also get a 50% employer match on up to 6% of my salary used to buy company shares. I’ve also been putting US$10k per year into Series I-Bonds which are currently paying 9.62% interest, that is just too good to pass up.

[PNGMK]

I remember your thoughts on mortgage payments. I'm glad you've joined the SRS bandwagon.

I used to buy GE shares on their share scheme as well - they only offered a 15% discount up to 10% of your salary unfortunately.